Edition 4 - March 18th, 2015

Newsletter
Edition 4 Wednesday March 18th, 2015
Principal’s Report
IMPORTANT
DATES 2015
March 18-20
Year 5 Camp
Philip Island
March 23
PCG Morning
Tea Year 4
March 23
Sex Ed
Information
Night for
parents 7pm
March 25
Kanga 8’s
Cricket Day
March 26
Puberty
Education Year
5 and 6
March 27
End of Term
2:30pm finish
Free Dress
Day
IntSch Sport
Practice vs
SJV
Easter Raffle
Drawn
TERM 2
13 April
Curriculum Day
(No Students)
14 April
School Photos
17 April
IntSch Sport
Term 1 Finals
Beacon Team (Student Representative
Council)
Last night students attended the School
Council Sub-committees meeting. They put
forward the Beacon Team’s request to
redevelop the vegetable garden. School
Councillors and Sub-committee members
were very impressed and have decided to
make the garden the major School Council
Project for 2015. The project will begin in
Term 3 and include garden beds
pathways, seating, the sandpit and much
more. Even chickens are on the agenda! We
envision the garden having two double
gateways so the children can easily flow
throughout the space during school hours.
Our major fundraising activities for 2015 will
fund the project.
School Council Membership 2015
We would like to thank retiring members:
Karen Yates; Brooke Hannaford; Carrie
Heath, Marianne Kirk, Wayne Haverfield and
Doug Mackenzie. Our outgoing members
have supported Parktone
Primary over a
number of years and helped drive
whole-school improvement. The new council
is in place.
1,Executive Office: George Danson
2,President: Peter Marshall
3,Vice President: Paul Bender
4,Treasurer: Rachelle Rodgers
5,Secretary: Nadine Robinson
6,Amanda Birch
7,Paul Withington
8,Lucie Smith
9,Tim Blanks
10,Heidi Bampfield
11,Caleb Peterson
12,
13,
14,
We have three parent member vacancies.
Please contact Nadine in the office if you
would like to join the team.
May Working Bee
Our next working bee is on Sunday May 31st
9am – 12pm. The focus will be to give the
school a major clean inside and out. Garden
beds will be attended to and soft-fall will be
spread under the play equipment. The
outdoor stage will be painted. Morning tea
and a sausage sizzle will be provided.
Prep Transition
Transition brochures will be delivered to the
local pre-schools next week. Tours will
begin in April. A new school promotional
DVD is currently in the making. It is similar
to the previous DVD made four years ago.
The DVD will be uploaded on our school’s
website and featured at the beginning of KP school tours.
Working in Your
Program)
Element (Electives
The student feedback has been highly
positive. The cross-age classes continue to
foster closer relationships between junior
and senior students.
Compass
We are excited to inform you that Parktone
Primary School is now starting to use
Compass School Manager as a powerful
tool to track student progress and keep
parents connected via our Parent Portal.
Using our Parent Portal parents will be able
to:

View up-to-date school attendance
information

Approve or enter upcoming or past
absences for your son/daughter

Update their registered email and
mobile number (used for SMS alerts)
details

Access information regarding
coming events and news

E-mail your child’s teachers

Book your
conferences

In the near future parents will also be
able to:

Access their child's Student Semester
Reports

Download, print and approve upcoming excursions

Pay school
excursions
up-
Parent/Student/Teacher
fees,
camps
and
The parent community will start to engage
with Compass from the beginning of Term 2
and a parent information evening will be
held to run through the basics of how to get
the most out of the parent portal and to
further explain how we are using compass
to enhance student learning.
Annual Report
School Photos
The Annual Report along with the School Strategic
and Annual Implementation Plans will be uploaded
onto the school’s website next week.
School Pix will be attending Parktone Primary
School for the annual student school photos.
Please ensure your child is dressed in full school
uniform. Order forms will be going home before
the end of term. Please return the order form on
the day of school photos.
School Grounds Access
With the addition of six relocatable buildings over
the past three years the access to the school
grounds on McSwain Street has been restricted.
Double gates have been installed on Robert Street
to ensure access for emergency and larger
vehicles.
Curriculum Day
Our next curriculum day is Monday April 13th (the
first day of term 2). I must apologise for not
ensuring this date was significantly publicised to
the school community well in advance. Camp
Australia is offering a whole-day care program for
families requiring the service given that there is
enough interest. You will need to book online at
www.campaustralia.com.au by Monday the 23rd
March to secure your spot. Camp Australia will
only run if a minimum of 18 children are booked in.
School Dates
The last day of Term one is Friday March 27th.
The children will gather for a whole-school
assembly at 2:10pm and dismissed at 2:30pm.
The first day of Term 2 is Curriculum Day (a nonstudent day).
The first day of Term 2 for students is Tuesday
April 14th.
Lost Property
There are two pairs of children's reading classes
at the office. If your child has lost a pair of glasses,
please come and collect them from the office.
Please ensure all of your children's clothes and
belongings are named.
Working with Children Checks
Working with Children Checks are a requirement
for all parents and visitors to our school who wish
to assist in the classroom, as per our Working With
Children’s Check Policy.
If you are a new parent to the school or a parent
who would like to start volunteering and you wish
to get started on your application, the following
information is provided Applications are completed online at
https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/wwccu/
onlineapplication.doj
There is no charge to you when applying for a
WWC Check as a volunteer. Please apply for your
check as soon as possible, as the process does
take a few weeks. Once you receive your WWC
Check Card bring it to the office for
registration.
Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It
brings out the very best in people. But it takes time
and patience, and it doesn’t preclude the
necessity to train and develop people so that their
competency can rise to the level of that trust.
Should you already hold a WWC Check card, just
bring it along to the office for registration. You will
not be required to apply for a new card, however
you will need to advise the Department of Justice
that you are now a volunteer at Parktone Primary
School. This can be done online (follow the link
below) or phone the Information Line on 1300 652
879.
Kind Regards,
WWC Checks have a 3 year expiry period so
please check when your card is due for renewal.
George Danson
If you have any further queries, more information
is available at:
www.justice.vic.gov.au/workingwithchildren
Habit 3: Put First Things First
The Leader in Me: Milestone Achievements
When we began implementing the Leader in Me process back in 2011, we initiated the
evolution of a new school culture. We set three specific goals:
1, Student attitudes towards building effective relationships, their wellbeing, and
teaching and learning will show positive improvement. This will be verified by
90% of student responses to the Attitudes to Schools Survey presenting in the
4th quartile.
2, A positive school climate centered on leadership will be developed amongst the
parent community and staff in terms of how they engage with Parktone
Primary. This will be shown through improvement in the Staff Attitudes to
School and School Climate data; specifically in the categories: Staff Trust in
Colleagues, Collective focus on Student Learning, School Climate, Teacher
Collaboration and Parent and Community Involvement.
3, Student enrolments will continue to grow in a positive trend as a result of the
newly defined culture of the 7 Habits. The enrolment data will show the total
number of students greater than each previous year.
We have put up a display in the foyer near the office, showing our progress in these
areas. Please have a look when passing by.
EASTER
RAFFLE
Closes this Monday 23rd. Prizes will be drawn by the
Social and Fundraising Committee at our end of term
assembly on Friday 27th March at 2:15pm.
There are still 5 booklets left at the office if you wish
to purchase more tickets.
$2 for 1 ticket, or $5 for 3 tickets.
GOOD LUCK
Who can believe that Term 1 is already drawing to a close.
Parktone's Social & Fundraising Group (S&F) have lots of exciting social events coming up this year and
hope that our community members will find ample opportunities to continue developing friendships old
and new during these social gatherings.
Our first event in Term 2 will be an afternoon tea on Monday 27th April straight after assembly. We ask
that the Year 3 and 4 parents bring a plate of food to share. Food can be left in the staff room at the beginning of the day.
The Mother's Day stall will be held on Thursday 7th May this year and we are in the process of ordering
lots of beautiful gifts for our children's lovely mummies to open on Mother's Day. We will have a wrapping day on Wednesday 6th and are looking for donations of gifts for the stall and help with wrapping
and selling during the stall's operation.
If you are interested in lending a hand with any of our events this year, please speak to Amanda Birch
(Josh (4A) and Hannah (2C)'s mum) on 0468 361 747.
Enjoy the school holidays and we look forward to catching up with you in Term 2.
CLASS
REP
CLASS
REP
CLASS
REP
PG
Holly S/Emma V
2C
Alana F
4A
Angela D, Sue C
PH
Megan F
2M
Deniz M, Holly S, Caroline
B
4G
NO REP
PL
Laurie A, Sharon W,
Deniz M
2JV
Angela D
4M
Margaret R-S
PS
Kirsten M
2W
Samantha P
5B
NO REP
1C
Jen A, Amy S
3C
Kirsten E, Jen A
5W
Leanne R
1E
Kirsten D
3S
Natalie W
6
NO REP
1M
NO REP
3SO
NO REP
1S
NO REP